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Inquiry finds Sri Lanka war crimes evidence

Ashley HallUpdated
Wed 5 Feb 2014, 1:57 PM AEDT

An inquiry by the non-profit Public Interest Advocacy Centre has found new evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Sri Lankan civil war, adding weight to calls for an independent international investigation. Sri Lanka is strongly resisting the push.

Transcript

ELEANOR HALL: An Australian-led investigation has found new evidence that war crimes were committed during the final months of the Sri Lankan civil war.

The report by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre finds that atrocities were committed by both sides, but that senior Sri Lankan government and military officials may bear criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The government is resisting calls for an independent international investigation.

Ashley Hall has our report.

ASHLEY HALL: The Sri Lankan civil war drew to a close in 2009, ending 20 years of conflict.

By all accounts, the final stages of the war was a particularly brutal campaign.

ASHLEY HALL: Edward Santow is the chief executive of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre which conducted the investigation.

EDWARD SANTOW: Unless there is a full process of accountability that can be believed in, there'll not be a proper and lasting peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

ASHLEY HALL: The inquiry found both government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels committed a wide range of human rights violations, including executions, rape and torture.

But it concluded the military "committed the vast majority of alleged crimes".

EDWARD SANTOW: We've received very recently some witness testimony to the effect that the Sri Lankan government has forced some people in Sri Lanka to identify where some of the civilian mass graves are located and participate in exhuming those human remains and then destroying those human remains, which is horrific in itself.

But it also, if true, would destroy some very crucial evidence of some of the alleged war crimes.

THISARA SAMARASINGHE: This type of unsubstantiated, baseless allegations against the Sri Lankan military, who fought the brutal terrorist organisation and it appears that the it keeps surfacing time and again, absolutely baseless.

ASHLEY HALL: Well the inquiry says that it has found substance to these allegations, that it's conducted a forensic analysis of them and found that there is enough in some cases to prosecute for war crimes or crimes against humanity. Do you reject that?

THISARA SAMARASINGHE: I totally reject that. What is this organisation, what is the credibility of this organisation?

ASHLEY HALL: One of the most damning claims in this report involves an eye witness account that government forces are involved in identifying mass civilian graves, digging them up and destroying them, thereby destroying evidence. What's your response to that allegation?

THISARA SAMARASINGHE: These are allegations which need to be investigated and don't forget terrorists had many masked graves.

ASHLEY HALL: The release of the report comes as the United States prepares to make a third pitch for an independent international investigation to the United Nations human rights body.

Dr Sam Pari is the national spokeswoman for the Australian Tamil Congress. She welcomes the new report.

SAM PARI: The international community could have intervened and stopped the war crimes and the crimes against humanity that took place in 2009, yet they didn't. It's now a chance for the international community to vindicate themselves and actually bring the perpetrators to justice.

ASHLEY HALL: The report's release coincides with Sri Lanka's Independence Day. The president Mahinda Rajapaksa used a speech marking the day to hit out at attempts to force an independent investigation on the country.

MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA (translated): I see the allegations of war crimes that some are hoping to be brought against Sri Lanka in Geneva as a victory of those who are opposed to peace.

ASHLEY HALL: A United Nations panel of experts' estimates as many as 40,000 civilians might have been killed in the military offensive that ended the war.

The prime ministers of Britain and Canada sought to highlight concerns about human rights at the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo.

But the Australian Prime Minister remained quiet on the issue.

The leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Christine Milne, says it's time to change that approach.

CHRISTINE MILNE: Australia doesn't want to put pressure on Sri Lanka because they want cooperation over asylum seekers and they see no reason to increase the pressure on the Rajapaksa regime to have and accept an international inquiry.

ASHLEY HALL: The World Today sought a response from the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, but as she's travelling today, she's been unavailable.